For the past seven years, Frank Hagan has watched DeCarlo Smith build a career at FC Industries, a family-owned manufacturing company in Dayton.
In this episode of ReEntry Stories, Hagan reflected on the person he has come to know through their work together. Smith shared his past, the decision that changed his life and the people who believed in him.
This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Frank Hagan: At FC Industries, where we work, we always give people a chance, regardless of their history, because the company is pretty big on that kind of thing. When you and I talk, it goes far beyond just a supervisor-employee relationship because we understand that there's more going on in a person's life than just work.
Every time we talked, you opened up about your past and how you didn't want to revert to that lifestyle. You wanted to change, and the company was glad to give you the opportunity because you wanted it. You also wanted to show your family that there was an opportunity to change if you wanted to.
DeCarlo Smith: Your second chance is people willing to give a person with a background like mine a chance to prove to themselves that they can do good and be a better person than they were in the past.
When I go somewhere to work or out in the community, I feel I have to do extra to be recognized as a different person so I don't get overlooked. They might say, "Well, his background is messed up, but look what he can do." It's just something in me that makes me feel I have to work twice as hard to keep the position I have.
Hagan: Your past never became an issue at work. You proved your work ethic and your worth and self-value to the company, but not only that, to yourself as a person, too, because you wanted that change, and you changed. So your past has never, ever been an issue at work. What was it that made you change your mind and decide you didn't want to revert to that lifestyle?
Smith: I've been to prison four times. Just the basic usual street stuff. You know, I was part of a gang. That's how I was getting in trouble: selling drugs and violent offenses and stuff.
But it was my birthday one morning, and I rolled over and said, "Man, I'm getting too old for this, and I gotta do something." I had to talk with myself. It was kind of like that Michael Jackson song, "Man in the Mirror."
And then my dad and my grandma told me they were getting too old. They couldn't keep coming up the road to see me, and they were getting tired of it. I didn't want to be in prison when my father and my grandma passed away because they were the closest to me.
They never gave up on me. They always, like, anybody can say anything bad about me, but they never said that, you know what I mean? They always thought highly of me. I was just glad I had the opportunity to be out here before they passed away.
And those words, hearing people tell me how proud my grandma and my dad were before they passed away, that's what keeps me going and doing the right things.
Hagan: I know that means a lot to you, and I know it meant a lot to them. So when you finally made that decision to, you know, change that mindset and get out of that type of environment, you were able to see them before they passed, and you got to hear them say they were proud of you because there were a lot of people who were batting against you, but they always stood in your corner, and they got to see that side of DeCarlo that they always wanted to see.
Support for ReEntry Stories comes from Sinclair Community College and LION. The series is produced at the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices at WYSO.
